23 MARCH 2023
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Edition #425
LITURGICAL FORMATION & RENEWAL PROGRAM: WE GO FORTH FROM THE EUCHARIST TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SAYS SR KERRY
A Minister of the Eucharist distributes Holy Communion at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sunday 25 December 2022. PHOTO: RON TAN/ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH.
Just as we gather as a community in the Eucharist, we go forth from the Eucharist to serve the needs of our brothers and sister, explains Centre for Liturgy Director Sr Kerry Willison RSM, in the fourth and final video for the Liturgical Formation and Renewal Program for the Archdiocese of Perth, Why Do We Gather? Released to the Catholic community this week, Why Do We Gather? presented by Sr Kerry Willison RSM, focuses on the words in the Eucharistic prayer ‘Do this in memory of me’. (Luke: 22:19). The Liturgical Formation and Renewal Program, launched at the start of Lent in parishes across the Archdiocese with an introduction from Archbishop Costelloe, aims to encourage the Perth Catholic community to awaken a renewed love for and awareness of the extraordinary gift we have in the Eucharist, in the Mass. Leading the program is the Episcopal
Vicar for Education and Faith Formation, the Very Rev Fr Vincent Glynn, supported by Centre for Liturgy Director, Sr Kerry Willison RSM, Director of Religious Education at Catholic Education Western Australia, Deacon Mark Powell, Director of the Centre for Faith Enrichment, Dr Marco Ceccarelli and Catechist Services Field Officer, Mildred Rego. During the four weeks of lent, video messages highlighting an understanding of What is Sacramentality, What is Liturgy, Signs and Symbols in the Liturgy and Why we Gather to celebrate Liturgy will be shown in our parish communities. The videos feature Fr Vincent Glynn, Sr Kerry Willison RSM and Mildred Rego. The Jewish people, explains Sr Kerry, gathered in community to worship God - they worshipped in the Temple and those who lived
elsewhere around the Mediterranean worshipped in their synagogues. “After Jesus ascended into heaven, we hear in the Acts of the Apostles (2:42) how the first Christians, who were also Jewish, went to the temple on Saturdays but gathered in homes in the evening for the celebration of The Lord’s Supper which became known as the Eucharist,” Sr Kerry said. Why Do We Gather? explains how the Mass has its origins in the Jewish synagogue service. “Just as the Jewish people gathered to listen to the word of God from the Old Testament, so too do we when we gather for the Eucharist; we come together to hear God’s word,” she said. “When we gather for the Eucharist, we gather as a community to participate in the Paschal Mystery of Christ - His Passion, Death and Resurrection, which we celebrate at every Mass. (1 Corinthians 11: 26). “Just as we gather as a community in the Eucharist, we go forth from the Eucharist to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters,” Sr Kerry said. Seek nourishment, satisfaction in Eucharist, says Pope Francis By Junno Arocho Esteves Addressing an estimated 20,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square for his Sunday Angelus address 19 June 2022, on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Pope Francis said that, through the Eucharist, "everyone can experience this loving and concrete attention of the Lord." Full Text available at
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